2023_Canadian_Premier_League_season

2023 Canadian Premier League season

2023 Canadian Premier League season

Professional soccer league season

The 2023 Canadian Premier League season was the fifth season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. The CPL Shield was won by Cavalry FC who finished first in the regular season by a 13 point margin. In the CPL final, Forge FC defeated Cavalry FC 2–1 in Hamilton to capture the North Star Cup. In doing so, Forge became league champions for the fourth time in five seasons. Both title winning clubs qualified for the newly expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Quick Facts Season, Dates ...

Team and rule changes

Eight teams competed in the 2023 season with the debut of Vancouver FC, and the dissolution of FC Edmonton.[1][2] The league's playoff structure changed to a five-team Page playoff system with four elimination matches and one non-elimination match.

The league's player compensation budget increased by $175,000 compared to 2022.[3] Teams were required to spend between $750,000 and $1,025,000 on their 20–23 player rosters with a minimum of $30,000 per player. A team making full use of the U-21 salary rule could reach a compensation maximum of $1,125,000. In July 2023, the CPL introduced the Exceptional Youth Talent (EYT) designation which teams can apply to two U-18 players who are on standard contracts. EYT players do not count towards the 23 player roster limit and a portion of their salaries do not count towards the cap.[4]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

See also: List of soccer stadiums in Canada
Location of the 2023 Canadian Premier League teams
More information Club, Location ...

    Personnel and sponsorship

    More information Team, Head coach ...

    Number of teams by province or territory

    More information Rank, Province or territory ...

    Coaching changes

    More information Team, Outgoing coach ...

    Regular season

    Format

    The regular season was played as a quadruple round-robin, with each team playing the other seven teams twice at home and twice away between April 15 and October 7. The regular season winner (the team ranked first after all 28 games) qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup and the top five teams qualified for the playoffs.

    Standings

    More information Pos, Team ...
    Source: CanPL
    Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total wins; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away goal differential; 6) Away goals scored; 7) Home goal differential; 8) Home goals scored; 9) Total minutes played by U-21 players; 10) Coin toss (2 teams tied) or drawing of lots (3+ teams tied).[11]
    (C) Champion (qualified to Champions Cup); (S) CPL Shield winner (qualified to Champions Cup)
    Notes:
    1. Tie resolved by away goal differential; Forge: +4, Wanderers: −2

    Results

    More information Home \ Away, ATO ...
    Source: CanPL.ca
    Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

    U-21 minute standings

    In order to qualify for the playoffs, clubs were also required to accumulate at least 2,000 minutes played by U-21 domestic players during the regular season. Additionally, only 1,000 of these minutes could be played by players on loan from other clubs.[12] Clubs that do not meet the 2,000 minute threshold may also incur financial penalties from the league.

    More information Pos, Team ...
    Source: CanPL
    (Q) Qualified for the playoffs

    Playoffs

    The 2023 season used the Page playoff system. The team who finished first in the regular-season table would play the team who finished second, and the winner would host the final. The fourth- and fifth-placed teams would play in a play-in round, and the winner of this game would then play the third-placed team in a quarter-final. The quarter-final winner would play the loser of the game between the first and second-placed teams for the other spot in the final.[13]

    Bracket

    Play-in roundFirst semifinalSecond semifinalFinal
    October 14October 28
    1Cavalry FC12Forge FC2
    2Forge FC2October 211Cavalry FC1
    1Cavalry FC2
    Quarterfinal4Pacific FC1
    October 14
    October 113HFX Wanderers FC0
    4Pacific FC14Pacific FC1
    5York United FC0

    Matches

    Play-in round

    October 11 Pacific FC 1–0 York United FC Langford, British Columbia
    7:00 pm PDT
    (10:00 pm EDT)    		 Reid 90+1' Report Stadium: Starlight Stadium
    Attendance: 2,780

    Quarterfinal

    October 14 HFX Wanderers FC 0–1 Pacific FC Halifax, Nova Scotia
    3:00 pm ADT
    (2:00 pm EDT)    		 Report Fernandez 37' (o.g.) Stadium: Wanderers Grounds
    Attendance: 6,254

    First semifinal

    October 14 Cavalry–Forge rivalry Cavalry FC 1–2 Forge FC Foothills County, Alberta
    3:00 PM MDT
    (5:00 PM EDT)    		 Mason 80' Report
    		Stadium: ATCO Field
    Attendance: 4,385

    Second semifinal

    October 21 Cavalry FC 2–1 Pacific FC Foothills County, Alberta
    2:00 PM MDT
    (4:00 PM EDT)
    		Report Manneh 66' Stadium: ATCO Field
    Attendance: 4,066

    Final

    Main article: 2023 Canadian Premier League final
    More information Forge FC, 2–1 (a.e.t.) ...
    Attendance: 13,925

    Attendance

    As of end of regular season
    More information Pos, Team ...

    Source:

    Statistical leaders

    See also: Canadian Premier League records and statistics § Career player records

    Top scorers

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Top assists

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Clean sheets

    More information Rank, Player ...

    Hat-tricks

    More information Player, For ...

    Awards

    Canadian Premier League Awards

    The 2023 Canadian Premier League Awards were held in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 26, 2023.[19]

    More information Award, Recipient ...

    Canadian Premier League Best XI

    More information Goalkeeper, Defenders ...

    Team of the Week

    The Gatorade Team of the Week was selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt.

    More information Team of the Week, Dates ...

    Monthly Awards

    More information Month, Manager of the Month ...

    Player transfers

    Main article: List of Canadian Premier League transfers 2023

    U Sports Draft

    The 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft took place on December 15, 2022. Each team made two picks in the draft for a total of 16 selections with expansion club Vancouver FC selecting first.[64]

    Foreign players

    Main article: List of foreign CPL players

    Canadian Premier League teams can sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match. At least 50% of a team's international players must be U-23 at all times. If a club wishes to utilize the maximum 7 slots, the 7th player must be U-21.[65]

    The following international players were signed for the 2023 season. Note that players may be considered domestic for CPL purposes (Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or refugees) while still representing other countries in international competitions.[66]

    More information Club, Player 1 ...

    Players in italic denote players who were new to their respective clubs for the 2023 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement. Players in Bold indicate players who have represented their national teams at the senior level.

    2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup

    Forge FC and Cavalry FC both earned berths in the newly expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup as CPL champions and regular season champions respectively.[67] The newly expanded tournament has teams from across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean compete for a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup.[68] Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup was also available to CPL clubs if they won the Canadian Championship; however, the 2023 Canadian Championship was not won by a CPL team.[68][69]

    More information Method, Qualified team ...

    References

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